Logic of Dissertation Checklist



Developing a Logical argument throughout a Dissertation Student’s name:

Building towards the focus of the data collection instruments

|Chapter |Element of logic |Content in this dissertation |

| |title |title: |

| |(keywords in the central | |

| |question) | |

|1: |central question |central question: |

|Intro-duction |(substantive topic, stated in| |

| |general terms) | |

| |substantive aim |substantive aim: |

| |(substantive topic, specific | |

| |context) | |

| | | |

| |theoretical aim |theoretical aim: |

| |(concepts guiding | |

| |investigation of the | |

| |substantive topic) | |

| |methodological aim |methodological aim: |

| |(design and methods to | |

| |address the substantive | |

| |topic) | |

|2: |review questions: substantive|review question(s), substantive aim: |

|Review of |aim | |

|Literature |(issues related to the | |

| |substantive topic) | |

| | | |

| | | |

| |review questions: theoretical|review question(s), theoretical aim: |

| |aim | |

| |(selecting the theoretical | |

| |framework and defining | |

| |concepts) | |

| | | |

|3: |review questions: |review question(s), methodological aim: |

|Research Design|methodological aim | |

| |(issues relating to the | |

| |methodology and methods) | |

| | | |

| | | |

| |research questions: |research questions: |

| |substantive aim | |

| |(reflecting answers to the | |

| |review questions) | |

| | | |

| | | |

| | | |

Focusing the data collection instruments

|Chapter 3: Research Design: data collection instruments |Tick |

|Do the data collection instrument items contribute to answering the research questions related to the substantive aim? | |

|Do the data collection instrument items employ the concepts of the theoretical framework? | |

|Is there any reference to the inclusion of the data collection instruments, and possibly to raw data, in the appendices? | |

Focusing the presentation of the findings

|Chapter 4: Presentation of Findings |Tick |

|Do the findings for each data collection instrument item contribute to answering a research question related to the substantive aim? | |

|Are the findings given for the items relating to each research question in turn? | |

Focusing the discussion of the findings

|Chapter 5: Discussion of Findings |Tick |

|Does the discussion show how the answers the findings give to the research questions contribute to achieving the substantive aim? | |

|Are the implications explored of these answers to the research questions for the literature on the substantive topic that has been | |

|reviewed? | |

|Does the discussion consider how the strengths and limitations of the theoretical framework affected the findings? | |

|Does the discussion examine how the strengths and limitations of the data collection methods affected the findings? | |

Drawing conclusions

|Chapter 6: Conclusions and recommendations |Tick |

|Is a conclusion drawn about the extent to which the research questions were answered and the substantive aim achieved? | |

|Is a conclusion drawn about the extent to which the theoretical aim was achieved through employing the theoretical framework to guide | |

|the investigation of the substantive topic? | |

|Is a conclusion drawn about the extent to which the methodological aim was achieved through the research design and about any ways in | |

|which the research design might have been improved? | |

|Is a conclusion drawn about how the findings from the specific context investigated in the research contribute to answering the broader| |

|central question addressed in the dissertation? | |

|Are any recommendations for different audiences supported by reference to the evidence of findings and, if appropriate, literature | |

|reviewed? | |

Signposting throughout the dissertation to highlight the logic of the overall argument developed

|All chapters, reference list |Tick |

|Is it stated at the end of the introductory chapter how the argument to answer the central question will be developed in the remaining | |

|chapters? | |

|Is there an introduction to each of the other chapters indicating what will be covered in each section? | |

|Is there a statement at the end of each of the other chapters except the conclusion indicating how the logic of the overall argument | |

|will be taken forward in the next chapter? | |

|Are all references to literature in the text accurately listed in author alphabetical order in the reference list so that readers may, | |

|in principle, find these references? | |

|Are all appendices clearly labelled so that their contribution to the development of the overall argument is clear? | |

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download